Zhenguan Kaiyuan period was the prosperous time of the Tang Dynasty. In order to learn the culture of China, the Japanese still send envoys to China. One of the envoys is very representative, and he is Chao Heng. Chao Heng has a deep friendship with Li Bai and Wang Wei. They both wrote poems and gave them to this Japanese friend.
The culture of the prosperous Tang Dynasty had a great influence on neighboring countries, and Japan was one of them. Japanese people of insight are interested in imitating and absorbing China culture. At the beginning of the 7th century, Japanese Shoto Kutaishi began to send envoys, overseas students and scholars to study China culture in the Sui Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty, such activities became more frequent. Chao Heng is an outstanding representative among the envoys in Tang Dynasty. Chao Heng, formerly known as Ma Lu in Abe, was translated into Manchu in the Tang Dynasty, and his father was China's assistant boatman. Jacky Guilin two years (7 16), 16-year-old Ma Lu Abe, as an overseas student sent to China by the Tang Dynasty, arrived in Chang 'an in 7 17, that is, the fifth year of the Tang Xuanzong. Ma Lu from Abe Middle School began to study in Tangtai School. Because of his intelligence and eagerness to learn, he was very talented, especially in poetry and prose, and soon became a scholar. He has a deep friendship with China poets such as Wang Wei and Li Bai, and was once very close. He sent clothes to Li Bai. Li Bai once wrote in the poem "Send the Wuwangshan Weiwan back to the palace" that "you can hide the dust by wearing the sun and fur". There is a note after the sentence "Riqiu": "Autumn is a clear gift, and Japanese cloth is a system." Chao Heng won the appreciation of Tang Xuanzong. He was awarded the positions of Zuo Buque, Zuo Sanqi Chang Shi, Zhennan Duhu and so on, and later he was awarded the positions of secretary supervisor, Wei Qing and so on. In China, Ma Lu in Abe changed his Chinese name to Chao Heng, became Chao Heng, and became the nationality of the Tang Dynasty. He has lived in China for more than 30 years, and has lived in Xuanzong, Suzong and Daizong. He has lived in China for a long time and often misses his old country. He wrote in a poem entitled "Chang 'an Full Moon":
The vast jade mirror rises, looking up at homesickness. It was the spring of that year, and it was once at the top of Sanli Mountain.
"Spring Day" in the poem is a place name, which refers to the east of Naraku County and Kasugayama at the foot of Gaoyuan Mountain. Li Sanshan is the name of the mountain in Japan. It is said that it is now a mountain with green grass. This poem expresses his deep feelings for his native land and his desire to return to China.
In the tenth year of Tang Tianbao (75 1), Chao Heng met Japanese envoy Kiyoho Fujiwara in Chang 'an, and he was eager to go back to China with Fujiwara to visit relatives. His request was approved by Xuanzong. He wrote a poem entitled "Returning to the Native to Work":
You will resign from your country, but you will not be a courtier. Love the God in heaven and cherish the kindness from overseas.
Fu hit Jin que and went. Penglai township is far away, just like a garden.
Look at Wyoming Day in the West and feel justice in the East. A sword in life is reserved for making friends.
This poem expresses Chao Heng's ambivalence of missing his hometown and nostalgia for the Tang Dynasty. This poem was later included in The Whole Tang Poetry (732).
When Chao Heng left, friends from Chang 'an saw him off. Xuanzong, Wang Wei, Bao Huan and others also wrote poems to bid farewell. Wang Wei wrote a poem "Send the Minister to Japan as a Mirror", saying:
There is a lot of water there, you know the sea in the east. Where is Kyushu Island? If Wan Li is empty.
Looking at Japan from the country, returning to the sails but believing in the wind. The aojiang is dark and the fish's eyes are red.
Outside the village tree, in the owner's island. If you leave a foreign country, you will be able to communicate with each other.
Under the scientific level and technical conditions at that time, crossing the sea to Japan was an unpredictable adventure. Wang Wei wrote down his confusion and troubles in his poems, and his profound and sincere friendship with Chao Heng permeated between the lines.
In "The Whole Tang Poetry", I also found a farewell poem by the poet Bao Yi, "Sending Japanese Ambassador Chao Juqing to the East":
The country was born in the world, and the East China Sea is adjacent to the west. Jiuyi Jun is a thousand-year-old sage.
Wild feelings are partial to courtesy, and wood is the essence. The brocade sails turn with the wind, and the golden clothes are new.
Gu Cheng is a mirage, and Zhu Lun is in the morning. If I had known I was thirty, Tu Shanyu.
Bao Heng praised Chao Heng's talent and personality in his poems. He is more optimistic about his crossing the sea than Wang Wei, and the color is more vivid. He also hoped that Chao Heng could return to the Tang Dynasty as soon as possible after visiting relatives.
Fujiwara and Chao Heng first traveled from Chang 'an to Suzhou by land, and then took a boat to Japan in Suzhou. Unfortunately, when the ship arrived in Ryukyu, it was suddenly caught in a storm and drifted to Vietnam. In 753 AD, the news that their ship capsized and died was misreported in Chang 'an. Li Bai and other friends were very sad after hearing the bad news of Chao Heng's death. Li Bai wrote a poem "Crying Chao Heng", which said:
Japanese friend Chao Heng Heren bid farewell to Chang 'an and returned to Penglai Islands in the east. The bright moon does not return to the blue sea, and the white clouds are full of sorrow.
"Penghu" in the poem refers to the legendary Penglai Fairy Mountain, and "Bright Moon" is a metaphor for Chao Heng's noble character. "Cangwu", the name of the mountain, the legend of the East China Sea. This poem is sad and sincere, expressing Li Bai's deep thoughts and mourning for this poet friend. In ancient times, information was blocked, and such misinformation often occurred. Zheng Banqiao heard the bad news of Yuan Mei's death, and made a poem to mourn. Later, Yuan Mei and Zheng Banqiao met in the Han River, and Yuan Mei presented a poem, "The bottom story was misinformed that Edgar Allan Poe died of old age, and Fei Jun was empty-eyed." Chao Heng later returned to Chang 'an alive, and his friends were pleasantly surprised, smiling through tears. He lived in Dali for five years, and Chao Heng died in Chang 'an. Japan also gave him the titles of Zheng and Er.
In the early 1990s, Jiangsu Zhenjiang Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Japan-China Cultural Exchange Association and other units set up a marble monument on Beigushan Mountain in Zhenjiang, engraved with Chao Heng's poem "Looking at the Moon and Hometown", which was inscribed by Zhao Puchu, calligrapher Shen Peng and Japanese bookstore president Dong Yun Tanaka. This poem tablet became the record and witness of this story. (Shen Hongxin)